The Best Director

Chapter 24 Breaking Out of the Chrysalis

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

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Wang Yang’s little trick worked, because the fear of Artisan Company beating them to the punch with a DV horror film prompted Lionsgate to move up the release date of “Paranormal Activity”. The initial plan was to promote it for two months and then screen it in early August. Naturally, the film’s marketing campaign was now on the agenda.

The marketing budget for “Paranormal Activity” provided by Lionsgate was neither more nor less, ten times the film production cost, 100,000 US dollars. Of course, one could forget about TV channel ads, movie magazine ads, outdoor giant screen ads… even thinking about them was useless because the main and nearly the only venue for marketing this movie, was the internet.

Everything proceeded according to Wang Yang’s plan. First, Lionsgate made an official website for “Paranormal Activity”. The structure of the website was very simple, mainly consisting of text and images, along with some video material. This content wasn’t promoting things like “the first DV movie” or “the youngest director”; in fact, far from promotion, there were absolutely no introductions to the director, actors, or behind-the-scenes on the website.

The whole website narrated one event, a terrifying murder case. In an apartment, Kevin died mysteriously in his bedroom, while his girlfriend Mel had gone missing to this day. Although the police suspected Mel had killed Kevin, they couldn’t find her; she had vanished as if into thin air. However, Kevin’s family found a DV camera and many Mini DV tapes in the apartment, which recorded some information before and after the murder took place.

And the “Paranormal Activity” that Lionsgate was about to release was edited based on these tapes.

Er, this was only what those browsing the site imagined for themselves, as Lionsgate never said “this is a documentary”. They neither confirmed nor denied it.

To achieve the best “spooking” effect, Lionsgate and Wang Yang discussed and researched repeatedly, striving to create the most authentic atmosphere on the website.

In addition to in-depth introductions to this “murder case” and its causes, the official website also featured much historical and knowledgeable content about demonic possessions and demons; snippets of the tapes, which were actually film material shot by Wang Yang; then there were the movie trailers, “TV news reports” produced by Lionsgate, and interviews with police, and family members of Kevin and Mel.

When you see Kevin’s mother in an interview, crying heartbreakingly and emotionally, saying “I just hope everyone can go to the cinema and see what Mel looks like! Please help us, we need to find her, we need to know how my son died, please help this poor mother,” it’s hard to harbor any doubts. This Kevin’s mother was portrayed by a distribution department employee of Lionsgate, and her brilliant performance could well be worthy of an Oscar.

In order to shoot these “news reports” and “interviews”, Wang Yang also got a chance to make some extra money, pocketing over a hundred US dollars. It wasn’t him holding the TV camera; those tasks were done by the production department employees of Lionsgate; he acted as the “good friend” of the deceased Kevin. During the shooting, he felt he did very well, but watching the footage later, he retracted his thoughts, realizing he was better suited behind the camera.

Wang Yang’s performance wouldn’t affect the promotional effect, because for confidentiality, he, Zachary, and Rachel were to only appear in the media for interviews after the movie’s showing period ended. Until then, the three of them were “nonexistent”; the movie had no director, Kevin was dead, and Mel was missing.

It took several days to complete these early stages of promotion, and then they moved to the official “viral marketing” phase. In other words, it was time to start “spreading rumors” online. Major portal sites, forums, communities, BBS, and e-mails, etc., all became targets of Lionsgate’s attention.

For this purpose, Lionsgate deployed 10 employees from the distribution department, but that wasn’t enough, so they hired 20 short-term contractors. The temps all signed confidentiality agreements, and their task was to spend all day online, talking about “Paranormal Activity”. They were posting, leaving comments, creating sock puppets, and staging conversations with themselves on various forums, creating a seriously eerie atmosphere.

And Wang Yang, yes, he was one of the temp workers, why not? From June to the beginning of August, for two months, with a compensation of over two thousand dollars, he didn’t need to work in inclement weather or be physically drained; simply sitting at home clicking and typing, and for his own movie no less, where could you find such a comfortable job?

This job also became his excuse for not going home during vacation. The spring semester of his first year had ended, and there was a three-month long break to come. Normally, he should be returning to San Francisco, and his parents had also called to inquire about his return. Over the phone, he explained that he had found a decent short-term job at Lionsgate and would not be coming home for now. That was how he managed to maintain a peaceful situation.

Wang Yang’s plan was simple: wait until the movie achieved some success, then tell his parents about his expulsion, thereby easily soothing their feelings. Look, your son’s movie has been released, and the box office is great; why go back to working as a chef in a restaurant?

Therefore, he had quit all his part-time jobs, including his role as a McDonald’s server. On his last shift at McDonald’s, Harry George didn’t speak to him the whole night. As he was about to leave for home, the big guy muttered “I don’t believe it.” To that, Wang Yang just shrugged.

Anyway, his recent days were too comfortable: getting up every morning, practicing boxing, eating breakfast, turning on the computer with internet access, heading to places like Yahoo forums, starting work.

“Really terrifying, that’s true, I know that police officer, he said the way Kevin died was horrific, his heart had been hollowed out, like eaten by something…”

“`

After posting that message, Wang Yang switched to another forum to bump a colleague’s thread: “Oh, that’s terrifying! I seem to have heard of this before, it happened right near where I live. Could there really be evil spirits in this world?”

After more than ten days of effort, the promotional effect had begun to show. From initial disinterest, to gradual attention, concern, and then belief, many people were now saying they would definitely go to the cinema to watch the movie.

Of course, there were also many who suspected it was fake, a hoax by Lionsgate. Fortunately, in this era, and especially in privacy-respecting America, there was no such thing as “human flesh search engine,” otherwise the part-time supermarket worker Zachary and Rachel who was studying at York University would have had their information plastered online for all to see, alive and well.

Whether people believed or doubted, the traffic to the official website of “Paranormal Activity” was indeed rising rapidly, and many individuals were calling Lionsgate to inquire, keeping the receptionist Jennifer busy all day long repeating the prepared response, “I have no idea.”

“I know that guy, he was a classmate of mine at San Francisco’s Lincoln High School. I clearly heard he went to Los Angeles for university, how did he end up working at a supermarket?”

Seeing this comment on the trailer for “Interview with Kevin’s Close Friend,” Wang Yang nearly jumped out of his chair in shock, almost tumbling over. Who was this, what a coincidence! This forced him to reply: “Maybe your classmate met Kevin at university. The supermarket job is just part-time.” Then he gave up on the forum and went elsewhere.

But tonight, Wang Yang wasn’t glued to his computer, because it was Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and several of his good friends had come over to watch the game. This included Zachary Levi, siblings Jessica and Joshua, and Eileen Iris, Jessica’s friend from acting school, a black-haired Caucasian girl.

As soon as Eileen Iris saw Zachary, she let out a loud scream, her eyes wide with astonishment as she asked, “Aren’t you dead!?” Zachary scratched his head with an embarrassed smile and said, “I’m not dead, only Kevin is.” Eileen Iris looked from Zachary to Wang Yang, catching on, and with a laugh said, “So, the possession by evil spirits that’s been all over the internet recently, it’s fake!”

Wang Yang nodded with a smile, admitting, “Yes, that’s a movie I shot.” He earnestly added, “Eileen, please keep this a secret. We need the promotional effect.”

“Oh, of course, I won’t tell anyone,” Eileen earnestly promised, then with a shrug added, “Just a bit disappointed, I thought it was real.”

“You should be glad,” Wang Yang said with a laugh, looking at Zachary. “At least ‘Kevin’ is alive and well, there are no dead people.”

Zachary just shrugged, his innocent expression drawing laughter from everyone.

And at that moment, all five were sitting on the worn-out long sofa in front of the TV, sipping sodas, watching the game, and chatting away.

In America, the most popular sport is naturally American football, with nearly a hundred million viewers watching the Super Bowl each year and an average 40% viewership rate; but the NBA, with Michael Jordan, is not to be underestimated either, with viewership rate for the first five games of the finals exceeding 20%. Michael Jordan’s charm is remarkable, he is Chicago’s hero, but also the nemesis for many other cities, such as Salt Lake City. In fact, Los Angeles is one of them, as the Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1990-1991 finals season.

Normally, a Lakers fan like Joshua wouldn’t care less about the fate of the Bulls, but this year the Lakers were disgracefully swept 0:4 by the Jazz in the Western Conference Finals, so Lakers fans had to temporarily set aside their grievances from ’91, hoping the Bulls would kick the Jazz’s butt and avenge them.

As a Bay Area kid, Wang Yang’s favorite team was of course the Warriors Team, but since the Warriors were eliminated by the Lakers in the Western Semifinals this year, he switched his allegiance to Michael Jordan’s Bulls, having grown up watching both the Warriors and the Bulls.

So, everyone was watching the game for Michael Jordan and the Bulls; there were no conflicts. They yelled “Defense” when the Jazz attacked, and cheered ecstatically when the Bulls scored.

“Oh yeah! That’s awesome!” Seeing Jordan score and the Bulls tie the game once more, the sofa erupted in excitement. Wang Yang laughed and high-fived Jessica, who was sitting next to him; Joshua jumped off the sofa, shouting at the top of his lungs, banging his chest like King Kong to vent his excitement.

Jessica had to shout at her little brother, “Joshua, cool it down!”

“Phew!” Turning to Wang Yang, Joshua laughed and said, “Wow, Yang, watching the game at your place is the best! You can shout all you want!” Jessica remarked in irritation, “Of course, because any complaints from the neighbors are going to be directed at Yang.” Wang Yang joked nonchalantly, “No worries, this is a haunted house after all, a little ghostly screaming is normal.” Jessica gave a wry smile, while Joshua, ignoring them, looked around the room, muttering enviously to himself, “Wow, living alone is just too good, too enticing!”

Wang Yang shrugged and remarked, “Is it? Living alone is indeed free, but once you do it, you’ll discover the difficulties.” He mused, “You have to cook for yourself, clean, shop at the supermarket. Those are not easy tasks, especially for a kid like you.”

“Yang, you’re absolutely right; he can’t even wash his own clothes without Mom,” Jessica chuckled, her beautiful face beaming with a sweet smile.

“`

Listening to Jessica make fun of her little brother, Zachary and Eileen couldn’t help but laugh, too. Joshua huffed with an annoyed expression and rolled his eyes, “Hey, Jessica, it’s not like you do any actual hand washing yourself. You rely on the washing machine, too. I’m just too lazy to put the clothes in it myself.” He then looked at Wang Yang, who was laughing the hardest, and said carelessly, “Buddy, go ahead and laugh. Once I’m an adult, I’ll move out and live on my own.”

“Oh, I support you, but just don’t take your clothes back home for Aunt Kathy to put in the washing machine,” Wang Yang said, bursting into laughter, which frustrated Joshua to the point of grabbing his head in anger.

Jessica, trying hard to hold back her laughter, shook her shoulders and said with effort, “Yang… let me tell you… that’s exactly what he’s planning to do!” After that, she too gave in to her laughter.

Joshua, seeing the two of them making fun of him together, was so angry that his chest heaved. Taking a deep breath and about to mock Jessica with, “Oh, you two really look like a married couple,” he held back to avoid angering her and turned to snort, “Jessica, Yang, why don’t you go to ABC and start a comedy talk show?” He mockingly added, “Oh, this is Jessica Alba, this is Wang Yang, welcome to our talk show! Today’s topic: ‘Making Fun of the Little Brother’!” He spread his hands in a deflated gesture, “Wow, what a spectacle!”

“That’s a great idea!” Wang Yang and Jessica looked at each other and he said with a laugh, “Hey, Jessica, maybe we really should give ABC a try?” Jessica nodded with a smile and said, “Sure, our talk show might even be more popular than ‘Oprah’.”

Zachary and Eileen, hearing this, were in stitches, chiming in, “If there is a show like that, we’ll definitely watch it.”

“OK!” Defeated and unable to think of a comeback, Joshua conceded. He looked at Wang Yang and changed the subject, “Hey, Yang, your movie is set to be released in early August, right?” Seeing Wang Yang nod, Joshua asked again, “How about it, buddy, are you confident?”

“Confident? Of course,” said Wang Yang, exuding self-assurance, followed by a self-deprecating remark, “If I weren’t, I’d already be in San Francisco by now.”

Joshua asked curiously, “Honestly, how much do you estimate the box office will be for this movie?”

Wang Yang shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, and chuckled, “I don’t know. But as I’ve said before, breaking even won’t be a problem.” Although everything was developing in a favorable direction, he remained calm and did not let himself become blindly optimistic. The first DV movie, “The Blair Witch,” grossed over 200 million US Dollars worldwide, but that was in 1999; it was 1998 now, and the movie being released was “Paranormal Activity.” These factors were unpredictable, and Wang Yang was not sure of the path “Paranormal Activity” would eventually take.

Jessica looked at Wang Yang, her eyes full of encouragement, and assured him, “Yang, I believe the movie’s box office will be great. God has promised me!” She added, “Besides, Yang, you’re so young, but you’re about to have a movie released. That’s already a victory, isn’t it?”

Erin Iris nodded and said, “In fact, the news has already spread among my friends. If there’s a movie release, they’ll definitely go to the cinema.”

“Thank you, guys!” Wang Yang thanked them, then joked with Eileen, “Tell your friends to be careful, so they don’t get too scared.”

“By the way, Yang, has your movie been sent to the MPAA for rating? What rating did it get?” Joshua suddenly asked another question, “It’s not NC-17, is it? If that’s the case, I won’t be able to get into the cinema.”

NC-17 means that no one 17 and under is admitted, representing the highest cautionary level. Generally, movie companies do not want their films to have this rating, as it means losing the market of teenagers and children.

While watching the basketball game on the screen, Wang Yang replied, “Lionsgate has already submitted the film to the MPAA. The result is not out yet, but I think it will be rated PG-13.” The future “Paranormal Activity” was rated PG-13, requiring parental guidance for children under 13.

“PG-13? Then Joshua can go to the cinema; he’s just turned 13,” Jessica said with a feigned look of relief. Grinding his teeth, Joshua retorted, “Jessica, I’m 16.” His helpless demeanor made everyone laugh again.

After a good laugh, everyone gradually quieted down, focusing on the TV screen, as the game was reaching its critical final moments.

With less than a minute to go, the Bulls were two points behind the Jazz. The Bulls were leading the series 3:2, and with another win in this game, they could clinch the championship and complete their three-peat!

At that moment, Michael Jordan scored a layup, bringing the score to 85:86. It was the Jazz’s turn to attack, and John Stockton dribbled up the court and passed to Karl Malone, but Malone was ripped by Jordan, 19 seconds left in the game!

“Oh my God!” Everyone was so tense they were nearly suffocating, and Jessica asked with a trembling voice, “Will the Bulls win the game?”

“They definitely will, the Bulls won’t lose…” Wang Yang’s heart was pounding rapidly as he, too, stared intently at the screen, fists clenched, saying, “Michael Jordan won’t let himself lose… It has to be Jordan, he’s bound to finish the game!”

On the screen, Michael Jordan was dribbling the ball towards the frontcourt; the atmosphere in the room had frozen solid. In that moment, everyone forgot everything else, their minds filled only with the voice of the TV commentator.

“Michael Jordan has the ball, Russell’s on him, eleven seconds, ten seconds, Jordan, Jordan goes in! He drives! Stops! Shoots! Yeah!!!!!!!!!! He scores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The shot was good, 87:86, the Bulls took the lead by one point! With only 5.2 seconds left, the Jazz called a timeout! Just 5.2 seconds more and the Bulls would secure their second three-peat!

“Ah, wow!!!!!!” All five people in the room jumped to their feet, throwing their hands up, standing up hurriedly and high-fiving each other in celebration. During the following timeout, they stood the entire time, holding their breath, without speaking.

The timeout quickly ended, and the Jazz restarted the game from mid-court. Stockton caught the ball, took a couple of steps, and shot from beyond the three-point line. The ball bounced off the rim and out! The game was over! Michael Jordan leaped into the air, fists waving, as all the Bulls players and coaches rushed onto the court, Pippen, Rodman… all the Bulls players were cheering!

“The Bulls have won! The Bulls have once again claimed the championship!” the commentator screamed excitedly, his voice hoarse.

“My God, oh, my God!” Wang Yang suddenly jumped up in excitement, and couldn’t help but embrace Jessica who was beside him. Jessica was so delighted that she lost herself in the moment, hugging him back and laughing and jumping. Both a Warriors fan and a Lakers fan, in that moment they were crazy for the Bulls; such is the charm of the Bulls, the charm of Michael Jordan.

Zachary also shouted, “Oh my God,” spreading his arms to embrace Eileen next to him, but Eileen dodged with a laugh, leaving Zachary to awkwardly raise his hands in a cheer.

“Haha! Serves them right!” Joshua laughed heartily, beside himself with joy. He wasn’t cheering because the Bulls had completed a three-peat, but because the Jazz had failed. With schadenfreude, he watched the television screen, taunting, “Wow, haha! Look at John ‘Despicable’ Stockton, look at Karl ‘Sunday’ Malone’s dejected face, what a joyful moment! Oh oh, someone’s crying, like a little baby. Haha, this is just too good…”

As the initial excitement subsided, Wang Yang let go of Jessica, it was only a hug in the moment. He smiled at Jessica, reflecting, “It’s unbelievable! The Bulls have done the three-peat again, it’s magical! Fantastic.”

Jessica also smiled back, her heart rate speeding up a bit as she recalled the hug, nodding and laughing, “Yeah, it’s awesome!” She then asked with interest, “Yang, why were you so sure just now that the Bulls would win?”

Wang Yang looked at the jubilant Michael Jordan on the screen, took a breath, and said, “How could I be sure? I was just as nervous as anyone.” He turned to Jessica and smiled, “Of course, now that the Bulls have won, I can say, ‘Look, I was right.’ But if the Bulls had lost, I would’ve said, ‘There’s still Game 7 of the Finals, there’s still hope.’ And if they lost that, I’d say, ‘There’s next season, hope is always there.'”

“Jessica, the most important thing is to keep the faith. Michael Jordan has now won his sixth championship ring, but when he first entered the NBA, wasn’t he also suppressed by the Pistons’ Bad Boys? But Jordan is now a legend.” Wang Yang’s eyes filled with calm, “Only those with a champion’s heart will win championships. That’s what I’m thinking right now,”

“Yeah, a champion’s heart, I get it,” Jessica said thoughtfully, nodding.

Indeed, the heart of a champion, never giving up, courage, maintaining faith! Wang Yang smiled. When he received the contract from Lionsgate, he also gained this heart; compared to the contract, this gain was greater.

He was no longer confused or afraid about his future, his path. What was there to be afraid of? He had not faltered during the hardest and most exhausting times; he had prevailed. Whatever challenges the future might bring, he wasn’t afraid, he would face them! In another month and a half, “Paranormal Activity” would be released. Regardless of the box office results, even in failure, he would face it calmly.

If before he had been a moth to a flame, then now, he was a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon.

He had been working hard to get distribution, to promote the movie. The cocoon was nearly broken, and if he just kept gnawing away at it persistently, one day he would break free, emerging as a beautiful butterfly, displaying his own beauty to the world like Michael Jordan. And if he fell during the process of breaking free, he would end up like Harry George, killing his own dream as well as himself.

Tonight belonged to Michael Jordan, and to the Bulls; but Wang Yang thought, soon, he would break free and soar into the sky. Someday, an evening would belong to him, to his movie. The whole cinema, the whole city, would go crazy for him. At that time, he too would be a legend.

There was a month and a half until the movie’s release.